Formula One: Rumour has it that Kimi Räikkönen may return to Formula One next year
Kimi Raikkonen has a high chance of returning to Formula One next season. Nicknamed Iceman, and occasionally described as "the fastest driver on the planet," he took the 2007 Formula One World Drivers' Championship. However, he now competes in the World Rally Championship for the Citroën Junior Team.
Raikkonen is currently in 11th place with just 15 points in the WRC, with only three races remaining. It turns out that Kimi signed for the current year only with Rally and is considering of returning to Formula One.
The 31 year old entered Formula One in 2001 with Sauber and scored 9 points to secure the 10th place in the drivers’ standings. McLaren was impressed with Kimi’s performance and asked him to join the team, after the former World Champion Mika Hakkinen left the team after a disappointing season. Kimi joined the team alongside the experienced David Coulthard and scored 4 podiums to score 24 points in the drivers’ standings. However, he could not score a win until 2003 to score 91 points with the help of 10 podium positions and 2 pole positions to secure the 2nd place in the drivers’ standings.
2004 was a disappointing year for Kimi, as he was only able to score 45 points to secure the 7th place in the drivers’ standings before finishing in the second place again the following year. He scored 112 points with the help of 7 wins, 12 podiums and 5 pole positions. This was his best season with the team. Raikkonen left the team the following year after scoring 65 points to secure the 5th place however, Kimi could not score a win this year.
After a 5-year journey with McLaren, he joined Ferrari to replace the 7 time World Champion Michael Schumacher and was replace by the then Formula One Champion Fernando Alonso. Raikkonen remained consistent this year and won the Championship for the first time with the help of 6 wins, 12 podiums and 3 pole positions to score 110 points. Kimi was lucky, as Hamilton was not able to score more than 2 points in the final race. He won the Championship just one point clear of the British. Kimi had some consistency problems in 2008 and 2009, as he finished in 3rd and 6th place respectfully in the drivers’ standings. This was a tough time for him, Ferrari wanted to replace him with Fernando Alonso for the following season. Raikkonen scored 18 wins, 62 podiums and 16 pole positions in his 9-year career until now. Critics expected more from him statistically though.
Kimi was listed as the second highest paid athlete in the world after the golf legend Tiger Woods in 2009. In fact, he became the highest paid driver in motor sport with an estimated wage of $51 million per year. McLaren could not afford his demands, hence decided not to sign him for 2010 and signed the current World Champion Jenson Button instead to team alongside Lewis Hamilton. The 30-year-old Fin was one of the most fortunate drivers ever, as he got to join one of the top running team McLaren in his 2nd year in the sport. Kimi stayed in the top teams his entire career after his 1st year.
The Fin claims that he had some offers in Formula One for the 2010 season but decided not to go with them. He could have been driving in Formula One if he wanted to but could not find anything sensible and decided to try something else. Kimi believes that he will have many other opportunities in the near future and the wheels are in motion for him. However, he is not certain whether he will return to Formula One or not. It all depends on what Formula One teams offer him and what the situation is. Time will decide what is best for him.
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